Drop in number of home repossessions

The number of home repossession cases going through the courts has fallen by more than 40% in a year.

There were 1,874 repossession court cases initiated in 2015-16, down 43% on the previous year and 82% fewer than in 2008-09.

The Civil Justice Statistics published today (Tuesday) show 77,721 civil law cases in 2015-16, roughly similar to the last three years and 41% fewer than in 2008-09.

Last year there were 8,875 divorces, the lowest number recorded in Scotland since 1979.

Divorces and dissolutions made up 95% of the 12,892 family cases started in 2015-16, an overall figure which has fallen by 13% since 2008-09.

The number of damages cases (2,296) fell by 2% compared with the previous year, continuing a trend which has seen such cases fall by half since 2008-09.

Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, Annabelle Ewing, said: “I am pleased there has been such a dramatic fall in the number of people seeing their homes being repossessed, which continues a longer term downward trend. This is thanks largely to historically low interest rates and is a positive indicator of Scotland’s general economic picture.

“The overall number of civil cases, which includes debt, damages and personal injury has fallen by over 40% in just seven years which is very encouraging.

“The past year has seen significant changes in the way our civil courts work, streamlining the system and helping people access civil justice more quickly and efficiently.”